© Flickr/Hadi Fooladi
A qanat in Iran. Qanats spread as far as Mexico in the West and China in the East.

Nearly one person out of five in the world has no access to drinking water. Hardly surprising that water is UNESCO’s main priority. To face this challenge, the Organization emphasizes education and increased knowledge about this key resource. Another UNESCO priority issue related to water is preventing and reducing the impact of tsunamis.

Contrary to popular belief, there is enough water on the planet for everybody - but on the condition the supply is managed wisely. As it stands, 1.1 billion people still have insufficient access to drinking water, according to the 2006 United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR). And halving the percentage of the population without access to water by 2015, as specified in the United Nations Millennium Goals, will be a major challenge. Estimates say this goal will not be reached in Sub-Saharan Africa before 2075.

“Water has been the main priority of UNESCO’s Natural Sciences sector for the last six years,” says Walter Erdelen, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences. A direct consequence: the budget allocated to water-related programmes has increased by 40% since 2001. “The activities conducted by UNESCO in the domain of freshwater are by far the most extensive within the United Nations system. We employ about 200 people,” says Andràs Szollosi-Nagy, Director of the Division of Water Sciences at UNESCO.

Essential for assuring effective distribution of resources, wise water management is all the more crucial in regions affected by drought or desertification. “There will always be enough water for everyone, but humans must realize the importance of good governance for this precious resource,” stresses Szollosi-Nagy.

To manage water more wisely, we need sound knowledge of existing resources. This is why UNESCO contributes to the United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR), published every three years (next edition in 2009). In addition, 12 water centres have been established in different countries around the world to increase knowledge about this resource. Centres specialized in key areas such as managing water in urban settings, water and climate change, and water laws and policies are adding to research and reframing the water issue within a wider cultural context.

The International Centre on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures (ICQHHS) in Yazd (Iran), for instance, conducts research on these traditional underground irrigation systems.

The goal is to revive the ancestral technique in regions where modern solutions, which use up a lot of water, have failed. Another goal is to promote systems that further not only irrigation but also communication among people and cultures. “Qanats, which appeared in Iran almost 3000 years ago, spread as far as Mexico in the West and China in the East,” explains Szollosi-Nagy.

Another key issue for the Sciences sector: disaster mitigation, particularly tsunamis. Founded in the mid-1960s in the Pacific Ocean, the tsunami early warning system has since made considerable progress.

With the help of extra budgetary funding that poured in after the December 2004 tsunami, the provisional alert system was deployed in the Indian Ocean. Sweden - 10% of its population annually chooses Thailand as a holiday destination - donated a substantial amount. In coming years, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) plans to expand the alert system to the North Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

The existing tsunami warning system, implemented in the Pacific Ocean in the 1960s and in the Indian Ocean in 2006, uses 35 deep-ocean pressure sensors. These devices, installed at a depth of 1000 to 4000 meters, detect seismic activity leading to a tsunami and send an alert. Only 88 are needed to make the system global. But funds are lacking for such a system to be deployed. Just 1.2% of UNESCO’s budget is currently allocated to IOC activities.

To avert future disasters, better coordination between the various coastal countries is another crucial requirement. “Technically, the warning system in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean will certainly be in place by 2009. But will the alert signal reach the populations concerned? Highly unlikely! Even if you have a telephone, you still need to know the number to call the fire department!” explains Patricio Bernal, IOC Executive Secretary.

More funds, better understanding between coastal countries – additional conditions for successfully implementing a global tsunami warning system include revising maritime legislation, teaching populations about rescue techniques and creating evacuation infrastructure.

By Agnes Bardon and Katerina Markelova (UNESCO)

© UNESCO/Zhanat Kulenov
The Aral sea is drying up. Studies, tests, measurements of the level, the salinity of water are done by the Institute of Geography.

© UNESCO/CSI/LINKS, Bangkok/Derek Elias
Baan Khem, Phang Nga province, one of the hardest hit villages during the tsunami of 26 December 2004.